Challenges in Package Cooling of High Performance Servers

Cooling technologies for dealing with high-density and asymmetric power dissipation are discussed, arising from thermal management of high performance server CPU-packages. In this paper, investigation and development of associated technologies are introduced from a viewpoint of industrial application, and attention is focused on heat conduction and removal at the package and heatsink module level. Based on analyses of power dissipation and package cooling characteristics, properties of a new metallic thermal interface material are presented where the Indium-Silver composite was evaluated for integrating the chip and its heat-spreader, effects of heat spreading materials on package thermal performance are investigated including high thermal conductivity diamond composites, and evaluations of enhanced heatsink cooling capability are illustrated where high thermal conductivity devices of heat pipes or vapor chambers were applied for improving heat spreading in the heatsink base.